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Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt
It seems like since the dawn of the naughties he's played: the tough guy, and the guy on the verge of a breakdown. And in that respect he definitely is trying hard, but there's nothing wrong with him wanting to shake that Titanic image. If other actors did that, it'd be refreshing. Pattinson trying to shake his Twilight roots would be refreshing to see. I think because of Dicaprio's other roles (Romeo, Titanic, Catch Me If You Can) he's seen in a certain way, and if he plays a bad boy, it might be unusual and not feel right, but for me he can do it all.
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Nothing wrong with that (the bold part), but he's not succeeded in shaking that off completely, because even though he's older now, looks different and is bulked up, he still has that boyish quality in him, that playful charm that he's not using in his acting because he doesn't play to his strengths. That's why he doesn't
feel right as a tough guy, or alfa-male. The transformation didn't come from within. And he's not that kind of actor anyway, the transformative, chameleon type. He's a traditional leading man, a movie star type, so he should be playing up his own persona and charisma and not doing the impersonations of tough guys, which he's not.
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What did Deniro play? He played a Jack the lad, psycho and tough guy through out his entire career, even as he got older he still plays the retired tough guy, almost like a parody of his former self. But I agree, he was still teriffic at what he did. All be it a type cast actor.
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It doesn't really matter how many different characters he plays, as long as he's convincing in them, typecast or not. I would've liked DiCaprio better if he was typecast as that character in Catch Me if You Can, because at least he would be convincing.
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The bold part to me, you're basically saying yeah he's a good actor. He does everything actors should do and has everything actors should have but you still don't like him.
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Well, he doesn't have authenticity and that to me is a much more important thing to have than technique, in any art.
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I think to reach a certain emotional level, to really bring the audience in and show them the characters pain you DO have to force it somewhat. That kind of pain from a character with deep sited problems just doesn't come naturally, you have to work at it.
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Great actors work at it before the filming. They build a whole character from within with all the details, nuances, emotional levels and then they let it go. When the filming of the scenes starts they are natural, like they're not acting and even if the scenes call for the over the top behavior, they don't feel forced. This is something DiCaprio can't do, yet. He's too self aware.
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Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix are no where near Dicaprio levels.
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You're right in a way, they're both above DiCaprio's level. They don't always benefit from working with the best scripts and top notch Hollywood directors, but they're almost always convincing in what they play. They can play understated and over the top, they can be leading men and character actors, they have nuance and subtlety (something DiCaprio lacks), they can transform themselves on the outside, but more importantly from within. For example, Bale succeeded in shaking off his 90's image completely. He used to play mellow, shy, very English characters and he was very good, very convincing that you'd think, yes that's his own persona. And he wiped it all out with just one role - Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Now people think he's truly psychotic. You just have to compare his character in Velvet Goldmine to Bateman and wonder if that's the same actor, he feels like two totally different persons. And he did it without make up, he just bulked up for American Psycho.